MEMPHIS – Knicks owner James Dolan admitted he may be viewed as “brain-dead” for his views, but claimed Isiah Thomas’ rebuilding job is working and predicted the team president would eventually be “lauded” for his work.

During a 40-minute private brunch with writers in a ballroom at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis before the Knicks’ 101-99 loss, Dolan said the 15-42 mess is not “a mistake,” just part of the strategy – a word he used repeatedly.

With an outcry Thomas should be fired, Dolan put to bed an ESPN report Thomas would be axed in Memphis. Dolan said he, too, showed “faith” in Rangers president Glen Sather and it led to a Ranger renaissance.

“I can’t say it as plainer than I’ve already said it,” Dolan said.

“I’m not making a change, guys. We’re going to continue on with the strategy. I believe in the plan. I believe in the strategy. I believe in the guys who are executing it. I fully expect you to kill me in the papers tomorrow with this, but I’m going to stick with it. I’m going to stick with it until we stop making progress. I think the course is to stay the course, not knee-jerk.

“Maybe some people think I’m brain-dead because of that, but time will tell,” Dolan added. “I understand people will be unhappy when you’re going through this process.”

Dolan said the club is on a “three-to-four-year plan” to become a contender – this being Year 1. Thomas has already been here two years and two months. But why let facts get in the way of Dolan’s latest spin job.

“You’re characterizing [this season] as making a big mistake. It’s not a mistake. It’s an underestimation what it would take to start off this strategy. So we’re 15-41 now,” Dolan said beofre last night’s loss. “You have to look at how you’re doing on your 3-4 year plan. It’s still early. I know it’s hard to take when it’s 15-41, but the mistake would be to say the strategy is wrong. The strategy is right. It’s just more painful to execute than we thought. It is harsh. There is no doubt. I think [the fans] are already upset.”

Dolan gave no concrete steps on how the Knicks will become a title contender, saying he expects more trades this summer but perhaps no major blockbuster.

With the worst record in the NBA, the Knicks right now have the inside track for the top pick in the draft, but, embarrassingly, Chicago owns it from the Eddy Curry trade.

“If in fact we end up [with the first pick] we’ll have some regrets,” Dolan said. “But then again, that would be tempered by the fact we got Eddy Curry. And I think there’s great hope Eddy is going to develop into a league-leading center. If you watch the second quarter of the San Antonio game, he looked pretty good. That’s Larry [Brown’s] job to get him from one quarter to four quarters.”

While Dolan said the strategy was working, he couldn’t name a building block.